What's in a search? Plenty. Google Flu Trends is a remarkably accurate model of flu epidemics. Powered by geographically tagged search queries, it predicts flu data in all 50 states and a number of countries, and its powers have been written up in Nature -- a gold stamp of scientific research.

According to Google's state-by-state map, only Connecticut has anything less than high flu activity right now.

Update: Connecticut has registered a sharp increase in flu searches, and is now has "Intense" flu activity.

Google provides city data too. Though it hasn't been confirmed with historical cases like the state-level information has, it uses the same technology. Its predictions are similarly dire -- only Reno, Takoma Park, and Beverly Hills have anything less than high flu activity (the interactive map is available on the Flu Trends site):

In Boston, reported infections are up tenfold, and Mayor Thomas Menino has declared a public health emergency. A look at some weekly state influenza reports confirms the sinister outlook. In Missouri, the Department of Health reports a 1,894 percent increase in positive flu tests over the five-season median in the first week of 2013. In New York, the graph is an exact mirror of Google's flu trends data [PDF]:

Courtesy NY Department of Health.

And the Center for Disease Control's influenza map from the last week of 2012 shows hospital visits are following along with the data, with a drab khaki color signifying maximum alarm:

So wash your hands. Flu season is upon us. "A decade ago, when we had widespread circulation (of the seasonal flu), we had 70,000 deaths in the U.S," Gregory Poland, a director at the Mayo Clinic, told USA Today.